A public employment with us is of no greater honor
or profit than any other, for with our absolute economic equality there
can be no ambition, and there is no opportunity for one citizen to
outshine another. But as the capitals are the centres of all the arts,
which we consider the chief of our public affairs, they are oftenest
frequented by poets, actors, painters, sculptors, musicians, and
architects. We regard all artists, who are in a sort creators, as the
human type which is likest the divine, and we try to conform our whole
industrial life to the artistic temperament. Even in the labors of the
field and shop, which are obligatory upon all, we study the inspiration of
this temperament, and in the voluntary pursuits we allow it full control.
Each, in these, follows his fancy as to what he shall do, and when he
shall do it, or whether he shall do anything at all. In the capitals are
the universities, theatres, galleries, museums, cathedrals, laboratories
and conservatories, and the appliances of every art and science, as well
as the administration buildings; and beauty as well as use is studied in
every edifice.
Pages:
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274